The leaking of NEET examination question papers is not just a shameful piece of news, but a mental violation of millions of students. Not only the students but also their parents and family members have been shaken by it. I am compelled to write this article using harsh words because I myself am deeply disturbed. A serious question arises in my mind: if we are technologically capable enough to conduct fair elections across every part of the country without interference, then why can we not conduct examinations honestly? How can we behave in such a disgusting, insulting, and insensitive manner toward students who are our future? How can we move forward after crushing their dreams?
The incident of the question paper leak has not only caused mental pain to more than 22 lakh 5 thousand students who appeared in the examination, but it has also traumatized students preparing for future exams. Their trust has been broken, and a fear has developed within them that while they work hard, success may instead go to those who receive the question paper before the examination. Students work with complete dedication, sacrificing comfort and peace, nurturing the dream that after clearing NEET, they will get admission into medical college. They dream of becoming good doctors and serving the nation, but the criminals of this country have shattered their dreams.
It is another matter that the examination will be conducted again, but the excitement and hard work associated with the first attempt are something entirely different. What about the momentum that has now been broken? What about the mental shock suffered by their parents, siblings, and other family members? Since this latest incident of paper leakage received widespread attention, the examination was canceled, but is this the first case of irregularities in competitive examinations? Certainly not. If you search history, you will find dozens of such examples. But if you try to find how many big culprits were punished in earlier cases, you may perhaps not find even one example.
You do remember the Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh, don’t you? Hundreds of arrests were made, and some people were punished, but during the investigation of this scam, at least 48 people connected to the case in one way or another died. The names of several influential individuals also surfaced, but it was never discovered who the real mastermind was. Is it possible that a government wants information to come out and yet it does not emerge? That simply cannot happen. Certainly, something must have been ignored so that the crocodiles did not get trapped.
In reality, the crocodiles are never caught. Investigating agencies manage to catch only small fish. Even the big fish continue swimming freely without obstruction, while the crocodiles continue to flourish. And I am not telling you anything new. Stories about the grip of crocodiles over the education sector are so widespread that wherever you look, you will find one such story. Now, in the latest NEET question paper leak case, the responsibility of conducting a detailed investigation has been handed over to the CBI, but some things are understandable even from a very ordinary perspective. In the paper leak case, the name of one Rakesh Kumar Mandawariya from Samarthpura village of Khandela tehsil in Rajasthan’s Sikar district has emerged. After studying up to class 10, he left the village and moved to Sikar.
He has been living there for fifteen years, but what exactly does he do? The answer to this question complicates the story. For the past few years, he has been running a consultancy office opposite a coaching institute located on Piprali Road in Sikar. Please pay attention — he does not work in the coaching institute, rather he runs a consultancy office right in front of it. Consultancy for what? There is no answer. The allegation against him has not yet been proven, but anyone can easily estimate his role, and it is also clearly understood that if Rakesh Mandawariya is guilty, he cannot be acting alone.
He is merely the face; there must be an entire syndicate operating behind him. Otherwise, how could the question paper reach from Rajasthan to Haryana, Bihar, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana? Educator Khan Sir is absolutely correct when he says that when we buy a diaper, it does not leak, yet here such a massive system leaked? Nine years ago, the National Testing Agency was formed precisely to maintain the sanctity of examinations. But did conditions improve even during the agency’s tenure?
My clear opinion is that question paper leakage is not an ordinary criminal act. The education mafia cartel involved in all this is even more harmful to society than the drug mafia. If an unqualified person passes a competitive examination and eventually becomes a doctor, one can only imagine how dangerously he may play with patients’ lives. Crimes like question paper leakage should directly be categorized as treason against the nation. The punishment should be so severe that everyone fears becoming part of such a syndicate. Leaking question papers is also a form of terrorism.
